crunch

crunch
/ krənch/
•
v. [tr.]
1.
crush (a hard or brittle foodstuff) with the teeth, making a loud but muffled grinding sound.
∎ [intr.]
make such a sound, esp. when walking or driving over gravel or an icy surface.
∎
strike or crush noisily:
two drivers who had just crunched fenders.2.
process (large amounts of information) or perform (operations of great complexity), esp. by computer:
computers crunch data from real-world observations.•
n.
1. [usu. in sing.]
a loud muffled grinding sound made when crushing, moving over, or hitting something.
2.
(the crunch) inf.
a crucial point or situation, typically one at which a decision with important consequences must be made:
when it comes to the crunch, you chicken out. ∎
a severe shortage of money or credit:
easing America's credit crunch.3.
a physical exercise designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles; a sit-up.

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